As usual, we've been watching a lot of movies. Here are some reviews of ones we have watched recently;
Moonrise Kingdom
"A pair of young lovers flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan out and find them."
It's a quirky movie, to say the least, but definitely my kind of movie; odd. Love the soundtrack and the unexpected cast.
Skyfall
"Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her, bringing MI6 under attack."
I know a lot of people were not a fan of the last Bond film with Daniel Craig but this one is a definite winner. Loved the cinematography and I was a fan of their bad guy, I do love a good bad guy! A good suit film too (aka, lots of really nice suits). Although I can't help but wonder how he doesn't or if he did, and how many times, he split open those tight pants. A little snug on the toosh, not that I'm complaining.
The Hobbit
"A younger and more reluctant Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, sets out on a "unexpected journey" to the Lonely Mountain with a spirited group of Dwarves to reclaim a their stolen mountain home from a dragon named Smaug."
A lot of die hard LOTR's fans have complained that this one was "watered down" and it is a bit more comical then the rest of the series (someone said "I smell Disney") but what people need to realize is that the book was much more geared towards children, and the movie followed in that, being much less gory and more lighthearted, but still enjoyable. I wasn't sure how I would feel about Martin Freeman as Bilbo, having a hard time removing him from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, but I think he nailed the role. I also really loved that they included the dwarves songs from the book. Oh how I want to go to New Zealand.
Les Misérables
"In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after he breaks parole, agrees to care for factory worker Fantine's daughter, Cosette. The fateful decision changes their lives forever."
Before seeing Les Mis, I had heard a lot of mixed reviews. Lots of people criticized that the singing was poor, but what I think few people knew was that, unlike your usual musical, where the music is pre-recorded and the film is lip synced, this entire film was sung live with no post production vocal enhancements, making the actors emotions much more real. I saw the play in High School and thought it was the most boring thing of my life, but the trailer alone made me teary eyed so I knew I would love it, and I would cry, which I did.
I was surprised and a little worried about Sacha Baron Cohen being in the film, but his comic relief was exactly that, relief. For being a honestly dreary movie, he was needed. Anne Hathaway blew me away with her singing. I knew she could sing, but she was the most emotional in the entire film. I have always been a huge Hugh Jackman fan, feeling he is a very versatile actor. He also has quite the set of pipes witch I had discovered from watching him in Oklahoma! I also was pleasantly surprised by Amanda Seyfried; she was perfectly angelic. And finally the most jaw dropping of the bunch for me was Isabelle Allen, who played the doll faced young Cosette. I feel that children are rarely good singers and tend to be pitchy, usually chipmunk-esque. But at only 10 years old this girl blew me away.
Ruby Sparks
"A novelist struggling with writer's block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence."
Really quite similar to Stranger Than Fiction, but a little more dry. Unique, interesting.
Jack Reacher
"A homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper who shot five random victims."
To be honest, I wasn't really all the excited to see this movie, and maybe my lack of hype made it more enjoyable but this movie was quite good. I found the fighting scenes to include some rather unique and original roles, and you can't complain about a little mystery and unexpected plot twists. Although the villain was weird and in my opinion didn't really fit in with the rest of the movie. But all in all, good.
Oh....
Did I tell my tales of seeing the latest in the Twilight series? I saw it on my own one evening while Dave was working, not wanting to be bored at home and not sure what else to do with myself, additionally knowing Dave would at no point want to see it. I was the girl watching it laughing to myself through the entire film. The main reason I saw it was because Lee Pace (you must watch Pushing Daises if you haven't) and Joe Anderson (Across the Universe) were both in it. I loved Lee Pace, and for me, we nearly made the movie worth it. It is easily the best filmed of the series, but the acting, as usual, was dismal. Anyone I spoke to agrees that infant CGI Renesme (I really dont' care if that's spelled right) was creepy as hell. But in the theater I was in people were ooing and aahing over her. Uh, are we watching the same movie? And gosh I forgot about the whole imprinting thing. Can we just all agree that that is also creepy as hell? The action was a bit better, although cheesy at points. Bella and Edwards first running bit, oh please. And in this movie vampires can fly/float through the air? I think I missed something. And I will never get over Wesley Snipes (please watch 30 Rock Season 4 I think and then re-watch this last Twilight). The cherry on top of it all was the lady sitting behind me obviously crying at the end of the movie.
And now I am Googleing how to become a movie critic because really....
And don' tell anyone I told you so, but you should see Ted too...
.JPG)
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